Can incivility impair team’s creative performance through paralyzing employee’s knowledge sharing? A multi-level approach

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how a supervisor’s incivility in teams impact team’s creative performance through the mediating factor of knowledge sharing intention among team members. Moreover, the moderating role of collaborative climate was investigated as protector against leaders’ incivility. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed multi-level model was tested by surveying 312 health care providers nested within 42 work units at eight large hospitals in Iran. Multi-level regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings – The findings revealed that those team members experiencing incivility from their supervisors are more likely to show reluctance to share knowledge with team members and as a consequence this response further decreases team’s creative performance. However, the climate of collaboration inside hospitals can buffer the negative impact of incivility on their readiness to share knowledge. Practical implications – In team-based organizations, a supervisor’s incivility can stifle the creative performance of his/her team through blocking the knowledge sharing of members. First, human resource department should have some plans to curtail incivility of supervisors. Second, establishing a climate of collaboration and trust among team members can mitigate the insidious effects of supervisors’ incivility. Originality/value – In prior research studies, the role of incivility on individual outcomes has been highlighted. This paper, according to the best knowledge of the author, is the first considering the negative impact of incivility on team’s performance. Moreover, collaborative climate is a novel moderator considered in this study.

How workplace incivility influences job performance: the role of image outcome expectations

“…Consistent with Beattie and Griffin's () argument, individuals who experience workplace incivility may have lower work engagement compared to those who are not treated uncivilly. The results are also consistent with Sharifirad's () work regarding the negative impact of a leader's incivility on the creative performance of teams.…”

“…The negative influence of workplace incivility on two types of job performance has been argued in previous studies (e.g. Porath and Erez 2009;Porath, Foulk and Erez 2015;Porath and Pearson 2010;Sharifirad 2016). However, our current understanding of the conditions under which the influence of workplace incivility on job performance occurs is far from comprehensive (Jawahar and Schreurs 2018;.…”

The Relationship between Workplace Incivility and Helping Behavior: Roles of Job Dissatisfaction and Political Skill

“…In particular, exposure to workplace incivility is stressful for employees and depletes their personal resource reservoirs, thereby threatening their ability to fulfill their job duties (Estes & Wang, 2008;Lim et al, 2008;Sliter, Sliter, & Jex, 2012). Previous studies reveal a broad range of negative consequences of this type of workplace adversity, including interpersonal deviance (Wu, Zhang, Chiu, Kwan, & He, 2014), withdrawal behavior (Lim & Cortina, 2005), and absenteeism (Sliter et al, 2012), as well as a tendency to stop engaging in positive behaviors such as creativity (Sharifirad, 2016), self-enhancement efforts (Chen et al, 2013), or citizenship behaviors (Taylor, Bedeian, & Kluemper, 2012;Thompson, Carlson, Hunter, & Whitten, 2016).…”

An identification‐based model of workplace incivility and employee creativity: evidence from China

“…Workplace incivility, as an interpersonal form of mistreatment, has been associated with a variety of undesirable outcomes that adversely affect employees’ physical and psychological well‐being, job outcomes, and interpersonal relationships (see a review, Schilpzand, Pater and Erez ). However, among the existing literature on multiple consequences of incivility, few studies have paid sufficient attention to the association between workplace incivility and outcomes concerning creative performance (for exceptions, see Hur, Moon and Jun ; Porath and Erez ; Sharifirad ).…”

“…Within a service management context, Hur, Moon and Jun () found incivility from customers and co‐workers decreases service employees’ creativity through the sequentially mediating role of emotional exhaustion and intrinsic motivation. At team level, Sharifirad () suggested that supervisor incivility negatively affects team creative performance by weakening employees’ intention to share knowledge.…”